How bad is China right now COVID The situation is still a mystery. But according to one of the country’s top health officials, one thing is for sure: It’s much worse than Beijing fears.
Zeng Guang, a former chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), admitted that “we didn’t expect the first wave to be so intense,” Time Friday report. After the Chinese government lifted its important restrictions “no COVID” approach to pandemic management earlier this month, COVID The infections quickly spread and engulfed more than half of the population in many urban areas, Zeng said, before continuing to spread further. He added that about 17 million people in Beijing – or 80% of the capital’s population – may have been infected.
This apparent assessment goes against the narrative promoted by other Chinese health officials, who continue to assert that the country is not underreporting COVID deaths despite accounts and images went viral on social media of people queuing outside crematoriums and packed ICUs.
On Thursday, Liang Wannian, leader of the National Health Commission’s COVID-19 response expert group, said accurate estimates of mortality rates are difficult amid the outbreak of cases. Liang said in a press conference reported by South China Post Office Morning.
Officially, China’s CDC says only 12 new COVID deaths have been recorded since COVID-free measures were canceled on December 7, bringing China’s total number of COVID deaths. to 5,247 since the pandemic began.
But those numbers have been questioned by international observers, who fear the true number could be much higher. On Friday, UK-based health data company Airfinity released a learn an estimated 11,000 people die from COVID in China every day, with forecasts predicting that infections will peak around January 13 at 3.7 million daily. About 10 days later, the number of deaths would reach 25,000 a day, the study added.
The alarming uncertainty surrounding China’s COVID crisis comes as health officials around the world are trying to protect their own people from new spikes that could emerge as the virus emerges. sweeping through China’s 1.4 billion inhabitants.
This week, the USA introduced a requirement for passengers traveling by plane from China to present a negative COVID test result within two days of departure or obtain a recovery document. South Korea, Italy and Spain have similarly announced new testing measures for people arriving from China, although other European countries including Britain, Germany and France continue to say it is not necessary. there must be new restrictions.
Chinese state media have called such measures “baseless” and “discriminatory”, and questioned the motives of other countries seeking to reintroduce control measures. check. “The real aim is to sabotage China’s efforts to control COVID-19 over the past three years and attack its systems,” the state report said. Global Times said in an article on Thursday.
